PACE adopts Ukraine resolution

According to the resolution, the urgent ruling by the country’s constitutional court in the ongoing political crisis, if delivered, should be accepted as binding by all sides. The Assembly also said pressure on the judges of the constitutional court was “intolerable”...

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted a resolution on the functioning of Ukraine’s democratic institutions, according to the President`s press-office.

According to its official website, the urgent ruling by the country’s constitutional court in the ongoing political crisis, if delivered, should be accepted as binding by all sides. The Assembly also said pressure on the judges of the constitutional court was “intolerable” and should be investigated and criminally prosecuted.

In the resolution adopted by 107 votes to 5, the parliamentarians called on Ukraine’s leaders and parliament to resolve the crisis in a legitimate, strictly constitutional and peaceful manner, “whether that be by calling legitimate early elections, emanating from the ruling of the Constitutional Court, or by way of a negotiated compromise.” Early elections are a “normal practice” and could be accepted as “a key building block of the political compromise,” they said, but only according to a legitimate procedure that allows fair campaigning and a free choice for voters.

They regretted that the government “has not complied with the formally valid decree (until proven otherwise) and has not allocated the required funding for these elections”. The Assembly criticized “personal rivalries and short-sighted fights for personal gain, linked to posts and positions.” It called for further constitutional reform to help resolve the crisis and said the “imperative mandate” should be abandoned.

Victor Yushchenko’s deputy chief of staff, Oleksandr Chalyy, who attended today’s PACE session in Strasbourg, said the resolution was “constructive and balanced, and consistent with the president’s plan to resolve the crisis.” He said the Ukrainian leader would support it, describing the document as a “positive contribution to the search for ways to end Ukraine’s political and parliamentary deadlock.”

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